Felting method and machine



March 27, 1945. J GOULD 2,372,484

FELTING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (153623 Gou/aL March 27, 1945. J. A. GOULD FELTING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HHHEEH m l/cwm 05c GOu/cL Patented Mar. 27, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FELTING METHOD AND MACHINE.

Joseph A. Gould, Philadelphia, Pa. Application August 5, 1942,, Serial No. 453,612

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and machine for mak'ng feltout of hair, jute or similar materials, the felt being loosely woven for the production, for example, of pads for use under rugs, though it will be understood that the prod not of the method and machine may vary substantially and be usable'for other purposes.

In the production of such felt heretofore, a loose mass of hair or similar material has been compressed to a substantial extent and caused to pass beneath vertically moving needles provided with barbs, which in ther movements catch the fiber pushing them downwardly through the mass and thus providing a sufiicient interlocking to provide a product having substantial tensile strength. In such prior machines, however, it has: been necessary to provide a backing of woven nature such as burlap, cheesecloth, or the like to support the felt, the tensle strength of which has been insufiicient to enable it'to Withstand handling when in sheets of any substantial size. The securing of the felt to this backing was accomplished in the same operation which produced the felting by reason of the penetration of fiber loops into and through the wovenImaterial under the action of the needle barbs.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a method and machine of the general type indicated, but which is capable of producing a. fabric having very high tensile strength sothat it. isentirely unnecessary to provide backing. material of any sort. The improved felting operation is secured by the provision of feeding means capable of compacting the loose material to a ver substantial extent at the point of penetration by the needles, together with the proper motion of the needles to secure very effective interweaving of the fibers and positive feed of the material;

The: above and other objects of the invention,v particularly relating to details of construction, will become, apparent from the following description, read in conjunction with the accompanying. drawingain which: t

Figure -1 is: a plan view partially broken away showing the improved form of'machine;

Figure- 2 is asideelevation of the same;

t Figure 31s, a vertical transverse section through the machine in the vicinity oftheneedles;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken on the broken plane the trace of: which is indicated. at- 4-4 in Figure 3;

. edges between the fiat surfaces.

Figure 5 is a perspective-sectional view showin in particular the parts of. the machine adjacent theneedles; k

Figurefiis an enlargedsectional diagram showmg inparticular the, nature of the needle movement;

Fgure 7 is a diagram showing an alternative arrangement of the grids c'ompressing the material;

Figure 8 is a diagram showing the formation of a compact fabric by successive passage of material through a plurality of machines; and

Figure, 9 i a diagram showing the lamination of a plurality of fabrics.

The machine comprises a frame consisting of various interconnected parts and including four upright posts 2 on pairs of which there reciprocate upwardly and downwardly cross-heads 4, one of whichis located on each side of the-machine. Ex tending through suitable bearing in these crossheads. is a shaft .6; to which issecured at one-side of the machine. an arm 8 carrying a pin Ill which: is movable within a cam opening 14 in a plate l5- carried by the frame of the, machine. Connecting rods I8 on opposite sides of the machine have their upper ends embracing the ends of the shaft 6 andtheir lower ends connected to crank pins 20 adjustable in radial slots 22 formed in crank discs 23 which are mounted on a driving shaft 24'rotated through motor and gear reduction connections to a sprocket 26. v

To the portion of the shaft '6 between the crossheads 4 there is welded or otherwisevsecured a plate 30 to which may be bolted the needle carrier 32 in openings inwhich are located needles 34,.

which are of conventional type, being oftriangular or square cross-sections at their lower ends with downwardly opening barbs 36 formed in the This arrangement of barbs causes them to engage and force downwardly fibers of the material to be felted,

while presenting a smooth aspect to the fibers 1 ranged in the direction of movement of the material asindicated in Figure 5. The various individual groups of needles move between upper bars 38 andylower bars 40 forming upper and lower" grids extending in the direction of motion of the material and serving to compress it durin the felting operation. The lower bars 4!! are securedto the frame of the machine, whilethe upper bars are provided in a un tary structure mounted for vertical adjustment by means of adjusting bolt' and nut arrangementsindicated at 44 Thusthe spacing between the grids may be adjusted for any suitable thickness or compactness of the material. The upper grid unit carries a deflecting plate 42 extending across the machine and serving to lead the loose fibrous material into position between the grids under the action of the feedin means. For the purpose of feeding the material to the needles, there is provided a bed in the form of slats 46 extending in the direction of motion, these slats being provided with upwardly and forwardly directed pins 48, and being preferably aligned with the bars 40 of the lower grid. Be-

tween the slats 56 are arranged to reciprocate movable bars 50 which, at their forward ends may extend between the bars 40, their extreme forward movements, however, being such that they will not engage the needles. These movable bars 59 carry pins or barbs 52 similar to 4B and are arranged to be reciprocated back and forth in the direction of feed by connection to a common bracket 54 pivoted to the end 56 of the strap of an eccentric on the shaft 24.

For the purpose of removing the felted material from the region of the needles, a similar arrangement of fixed slats 58 and niovable slats 60, provided with forwardly directed pins or barbs, is located beyond the region of the needles, the movable slats bein reciprocated back and forth by means of connection to a common transverse bracket 62 pivoted to the end 54 of a second strap engaging another eccentric on the shaft 24.

In the operation of the machine, the various parts operate in proper timed relationship, secured by proper adjustment of the crank pins and the eccentrics about the shaft 24. The loose fibrous material such as hair or jute is fed by hand as uniformly as possible upon the slats 46 and 50 or, in preference to this, may be fed thereto by unwinding a roll of conventional loose hair or jute batting such as is normally provided for feeding a felting machine. This loose and bulky material is engaged by the moving pins 48 and during their forward movement will be drawn freely over the fixed pins 52. When the slats 46 reverse their motion, the fixed pins 52 prevent the material from being drawn back therewith, and the pins 48 may slide freely relative to the material. Thus, as the moving slats reciprocate, the material is caused to move interm ttently forward to a position beneath the deflecting and compressing plate 42. By reason of the feeding action and the presence of this plate, compacting of the material takes place and it is forced to pass between the grids 38 and 40 in position 1 to be penetrated by the needles.

The needles not only have a vertical movement, but have an oscillat ng movement about the axis of the shaft 6 as well. As the shaft 6 moves upwardly, the pin ill will engage the sloping upper portion of the boundary of the opening M with the result that the shaft will be oscillated in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4, bringing the needles to their rearmost position. As they then move downwardly, their lower ends will follow the path indicated at A in Figure 6 until the pin engages the lower sloping edge of the opening 14, whereupon they will be oscillated forwardly during their downward movement along the path indicated at B. Thereafter, they movevertically upwardly along path C, and finally, when clear of the material, are oscillated 'backwardly along the path D, all of this occurring, as will be obvious, due to the shape of the opening I4. The amount of oscillation imparted to the needles during the path B is such as to cause the needles to aid in feeding the material forwardly to an extent corresponding to that resulting from the action of the feeding slats. It may be noted, however, that this does not mean that the forward motion of the slats corresponds to the forward component of motion along the path B, since through the region between the grids 38 and 40, the material is compacted and its linear progress is substantially slower than that which would correspond to the motion of the moving grids.

As the product leaves the needles, it is picked up by the pins of the movable slats 60, the strokes of which are substantially less than the strokes of the moving slats 50 to secure a proper rate of feed. It is not to be understood, however, that the feed of material between the grids 38 and 4D is necessarily solely that determined by the oscillating movements of the needles. In fact; feed may take place during the time when the needles are out of the material due to the pushing action of the slats 5t and the pulling action of the slats 60. Various adjustments of timing in this respect are possible by suitable adjustment of the driving parts about the shaft 24. I

The oscillating action of the needles is not solely for the purpose of feeding the material, but contributes very much toward the securing of a very strong material which does not require backing to give it a very high tensile strength. It will be evident that as the needle penetrates the material, during the period of initial penetration its oscillating movement will tend to move forwardly the uppermost portion of the material .relative to the lowermost portion. The result is that in the finished material the loops and strands of fiber which are pushed downwardly by the needle barbs do not extend verticallythrough the material, but in diagonal directions, serving'not only to increase greatly the tensile strength of the material, but also to hold it compacted by reason of the fact that a direct vertical pull or stress exerted by an attempted expansion of the fibers, cannot cause the interlacing or interlocking loops or strands to pull directly out of the material. As a result, in a single pass through the machine, a quite compact and strong felt is obtained.

In the present machine, as has been described, the grids 38 and 40 preferably extend in the direction of motion. This results, in a single pass of the material, in the formation of a ribbed material which is generally suitable for use. However, the grids-may be arranged diagonally to the direction of motion, as diagrammed at 38 in Fig. '7, the direction of motion being indicated by the arrow, so as to produce, in efiect, an ironing out of the material so that as it emerges from the machine its surfaces are fiat. In such case, the diagonal angle of the grids and spaces between them must, of course, be so cho-' sen as to permit of the desired needle oscillations in the direction of movement.

Reference has been made to a single pass of the material through the machine. In general, this is quite sufiicient to secure a compact, strong felt.

of the original passage. All of these procedures give rise to a more compact and stronger final material. machines may be arranged so as to act upon the material successively, in which case it may be desirable to have the grid spacing decrease through the series to secure greater compactness as indicated at G and G in Fig. 8. Various other arrangements of such machines may, of course, be used, for example, two machines may deliver their sheets in overlapping relationship for passage.through a third machine as indicated at H in Fig. 9. More than two plies may thus be passed through machines, the plies being interconnected by the fibers pushed downwardly from one ply into the other.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: v

1. Apparatus for felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles, means for holding compressed the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles, and means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region comprising a series of alternately arranged stationary and reciprocating members provided with feeding barbs pointing in the direction of feed.

2. Apparatus for felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles, means for holding compressed the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles, means providing a converging space in advance of said region to compress said material, and means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region comprising a series of alternately arranged stationary and reciprocating members provided with feeding barbs pointing in the direction of feed.

3. Apparatus for felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles, means for holding compressed the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles, means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region comprising a series of alternately arranged stationary and reciprocating members provided with'feeding barbs pointing in the direction of feed, and means for withdrawing from said region the material after penetration by the needles, said last means withdrawing the material at a linear rate less than the rat of feed of the loose material to the region.

4. Apparatus for felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles, means for holding compressed the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles, means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region comprising a series of alternately arranged stationary and reciprocating members provided with feeding barbs pointing in the direction of feed, and means for withdrawing from said region the material after penetration by the needles, said last means withdrawing the material at a linear rate less than the rate of feed of the loose material to the region, the last named means comprising a series of alternately arranged stationary and reciprocating members provided with feeding barbs pointing in the direction of feed.

For this same purpose, a series of 5. The method of felting fibrous material comprising feeding the material to a region of compression wherein it is subjected to frictional retardation of its advance by members which are without movement in the direction of feed of the material and which engage the faces thereof, and in said region penetrating the material by means of barbed needles providing hooks opening towards their free ends and having components of motion in the direction of the material feed while the free ends of the needles are passing into the material to force fibrous loops thereinto, thereby to effect differential feed of portions of the material between the opposite surfaces thereof.

6. The method of felting fibrous material comprising feeding'the material to a region of compression wherein it is subjected to frictional retardation of its advance by members which are without movement in the direction of feed of the material and which engage the faces thereof, and in said region penetrating the material by means of barbed needles providing hooks opening towards their free ends and having components of motion in the direction of the material feed while the free ends of the needles are passing into the material to force fibrous loops thereinto, thereby to effect differential feed of portions of the material between the opposite surfaces thereof, the needles being withdrawn from the material without any substantial component of motion in the direction of feed.

7. Apparatus for the felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles providing hooks opening towards their free ends, means for holding compressed, and retarding movement of, the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles,

means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region, the compressing means being without movement in the direction of such feed, and means for imparting to the needles components of motion in the direction of the material feed while the free ends of the needles are passing into the material and forcing fibrous loops thereinto, thereby to effect differential feed of portions of the material between the opposite surfaces thereof.

8. Apparatus for the felting of fibrous material comprising a plurality of reciprocating barbed needles providing hooks opening towards their free ends, means for holding compressed, and retarding movement of the fibrous material within a region of its penetration by the needles, means for feeding loose fibrous material to said region, the compressing means' being without movement in the direction of such feed, and means for imparting to the needles components of motion in the direction of the material feed while the free ends of the needles are passing into the material and forcing fibrous loops thereinto and for withdrawing the needles from the material without any substantial component of mo tion in the direction of feed, thereby to effect differential feed. of portions of the material between the opposite surfaces thereof.

JOSEPH A. GOULD. 

